New CFL documentary series manages to transcend the sport

I have had variations of this conversation several times over the last couple of months.

Friend: That ESPN documentary series they did a while back was excellent.

Me: TSN is producing one now.

Friend: Oh? (indicates rising interest)

Me: It will be about the CFL.

Friend: Oh. (leaves room)

This type of reaction is, admittedly, largely due to the fact that I work and reside in the Toronto area, which is the opposite of a CFL hotbed. It is a CFL antipathy-bed. But given that this region also happens to be the country’s largest television market, it is to TSN’s credit that it embarked on an ambitious program, thanks to its parent company, Bell Media, that has seen it invest millions of dollars in an eight-documentary series created by accomplished filmmakers. Engraved on a Nation, though a bit overwrought for a title, was created to mark the 100th Grey Cup game, to be played this fall in Toronto. These are, CFL commissioner Mark Cohon said in May when the project was announced, stories of the sport’s holy grail.

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And they are some damned interesting stories. The series opener, The 13th Man, is the most straightforward of the bunch in that it hinges on a particular game and a particular play: the 2009 Grey Cup, when the Saskatchewan Roughriders “won” on a missed Montreal Alouettes field goal before a penalty for too many men on the field — 13 instead of 12 — allowed Montreal to kick again for the victory. It was good the second time.

This was a classic heartbreaking loss, and director Larry Weinstein stitches together the story of that game against the backdrop of the Roughies’ passionate fan base.

There is really nothing else in Saskatchewan to cheer about, says one fan. “You can’t get behind potash, so I guess we’ll get behind the Riders. Everybody in this province.” Various devoted fans are introduced. “We’ve won three Grey Cups in over 100 years in an eight-team league,” says a dad next to his two daughters, all of whom are in Riders gear. “Some would say that, statistically, that’s impossible.” Another fan, explaining that his homemade “Clubhouse 23” is named for the number 23 worn by Ron Lancaster, stops to put his hat over his heart when he mentions the name of the late legend. A Calgary hotel maid, green streaks in her hair, tells how excited she was when she found out the Roughriders were staying on her floor for the ’09 Cup. She tells how she called a relative to brag about cleaning Weston Dressler’s bed. She says this non-ironically.

Before we get to the tragedy of 2009, the film pauses to revisit the tragedy of 2004, when kicker Paul McCallum missed a chip-shot field goal to win the Western final. Manure was infamously dumped on his driveway. The fans chime in that this was definitely bad form, although one guy clearly starts to feel bitter again thinking about it, and you get the sense that he might nutpunch McCallum if he had the chance.

The 2009 game eventually unfolds, and the various fans — and players — provide their memories of shock and disbelief as elation turned to dread. Eyes moisten as they think about it. “We knew the sun would come up tomorrow,” says one fan in his den, Rider flags on the wall. At the time, though, you wonder if he really thought that.

The second film in the series, Stone Thrower: The Chuck Ealey Story, is more in keeping with the rest of them — tales of past eras that would only be known to devoted CFL fans. Ealey, who grew up poor in the projects of Portsmouth, Ohio, was a high-school star in the 1960s but, because he was black, was not recruited to play quarterback by nearby colleges. He ended up at the University of Toledo, where all he did was go 35-0 in his career. In his final season, he was eighth in voting for the Heisman Trophy. Old teammates are brought together to talk about those days at Toldeo. One of them says Ealey was nicknamed the Wizard of Ooohs and Aaahs, which is a pretty great nickname (though tough to fit in a headline).

Ealey, who grew up dealing with racial segregation, was told that the NFL would not draft him to play quarterback. And it didn’t. So he went to Hamilton, where he won the Grey Cup as a rookie — against Ron Lancaster — in 1972. Ealey and his family have remained in Canada ever since. Stone Thrower, directed by Charles Officer, is almost bereft of football, which is a risk in itself — one wonders how many TSN viewers will stick around to watch the story of an American overcoming racial bias in the civil rights era.

But Ealey’s story is a compelling one, as are many of the others that will be rolled out over the coming weeks: Anthony Calvillo’s rise from boyhood in the bad parts of East L.A.; the 1956 plane crash that killed five CFL all-stars; the Toronto RCAF Hurricanes, who won the 1942 Grey Cup before going off to war, where half of them would die.

It is a cliché, but these are stories that transcend sport. And these are some well-crafted, evocative films.